By Marilyn Jozwik
In the early years of Neil Simon’s playwriting, he was best known for plays that tickled the funny bone with face-paced, witty repartee plus great characters and stories, such as “Barefoot in the Park” and “The Odd Couple.” They were popular comedies, but he was still considered somewhat of a drama lightweight.
In 1991 that all changed with the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Lost in Yonkers,” which is somewhat autobiographical. The show, Lake Country Playhouse’s latest offering, features a marvelous cast that captures Simon’s memorable characters with well-drawn performances. Lea Cornell directs.
This play is no walk in the park to perform, as family members respond to years of emotional trauma. Each role is a gem that this cast has polished brilliantly.
Eddie (Chad Novell) chats with his sister, Bella (Kasandra Novell) while Eddie’s son, Arty (Marlowe Findley), is up to some mischief in a scene from Lake Country Playhouse’s “Lost in Yonkers.”
The story centers around Grandma (Maggie Wirth), the mother of Eddie (Chad Novell), during World War II. Eddie’s wife has just died and Eddie has expended money he didn’t have to treat her cancer. To pay back his loan, he takes a job that requires him to travel around the country. The problem is, Eddie has two teenaged sons, Jay and Arty (Chance Wall and Marlowe Findley), who need a home while he’s gone, so he visits his stern mother to see if she will take the boys in for a year. Problem is, Grandma is mean and unfeeling and Eddie and his family have had little to do with her during his marriage.
To complicate matters, Eddie’s mentally challenged 35-year-old sister, Bella (Kassandra Novell), lives with Grandma and helps run the family candy store below their living quarters. And then there’s Bella and Eddie’s brother, Louie (Eric Madsen), who tries to keep one step ahead of his gangster lifestyle.
Jay and Arty are surrounded by this dysfunction during their father’s absence, opening their eyes to the unsavory sides of the family they never really knew.
It is a marvelous story of how we are shaped by family, how each child responds to his or her parents, how much children need to be loved in order to fully mature.
Jay (Chance Wall), left, and his brother Arty (Marlowe Findley) share a light moment in Lake Country Playhouse’s “Lost in Yonkers.”
It is also a story that requires really strong performances and fortunately LCP has gathered some of the best.
As Grandma, Wirth conveys the old woman’s steely demeanor. With her icy, withering stares and snappy put-downs, Wirth’s Grandma can reduce many to tears. It is only later that we see how she has tried to heal from her own heartache. Wirth is such a pro at capturing a character and her Grandma is one of the finest performances I’ve seen.
Just as captivating is Kassandra Novell’s Bella. Novell has a most difficult task of creating the childlike Bella and the needy relationship she shares with her mother and she doesn’t miss a beat. Her Bella is in a constant state of excitement, nervousness and insecurity as she prattles on, darting about, wringing her hands. Novell’s Bella is amusing in her scatterbrained ways, yet she garners so much empathy when we see how desperately she wants to break free from her constraints. “I have to love someone who loves me back before I die,” she implores her mother. The family scene when Bella reveals her big secret is incredibly moving and beautifully timed.
Adding another layer to the family drama is Louie. Madsen embodies the tough-talking, unscrupulous Louie with a marvelous Brooklyn accent and unflappable swagger. He confronts his mother as a mirror image, telling her, “Just remember: Whatever I’ve accomplished in this life, you’re my partner.” Then he throws her a contemptuous kiss—one of many compelling scenes in this show.
As Jay and Arty, Wall and Findley are a delightful team, providing a lot of the humor in the show as they navigate the landmines of living with a stern, difficult grandmother and off-beat aunt.
As the boys’ father, Eddie, Chad Novell tiptoes around his crusty mother and demonstrates the qualities of a responsible dad. Angelique Tober portrays his sister, Gert, with her odd speech pattern, in a small, but memorable role.
Dialogue coach Rebecca Richards did a wonderful job of getting just enough Brooklyn accents to create place, while Wirth’s Grandma takes on a fitting Old World accent.
Mike Cornell’s set uses every inch of the stage and appropriate props (Shannon Bader) to aptly create the old woman’s Depression-era home with good spaces for the performers.
If you go
Who: Lake Country Playhouse
What: “Lost in Yonkers”
When: Through Feb. 20
Where: 221 E Capitol Drive, Hartland
Tickets/Info: www.lakecountryplayhousewi.org